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Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike

Daniel Evans Orcid Logo, Karl Jones

Work, Employment and Society, Volume: 39, Issue: 5, Pages: 1269 - 1279

Swansea University Author: Daniel Evans Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/09500170251336938

Abstract

This article presents the experiences of ‘Karl’, a veteran postal worker and trade union organiser. Karl’s story outlines the impact of the myriad changes that have happened to the postal service and to the working life of postal workers since the privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013. Karl highli...

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Published in: Work, Employment and Society
ISSN: 0950-0170 1469-8722
Published: SAGE Publications 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69595
first_indexed 2025-05-30T10:56:12Z
last_indexed 2025-11-11T06:50:37Z
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spelling 2025-11-10T12:14:39.5686585 v2 69595 2025-05-30 Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike fee62e3738ecb9ba3c88f3a9c5a76866 0009-0004-3778-4547 Daniel Evans Daniel Evans true false 2025-05-30 SOSS This article presents the experiences of ‘Karl’, a veteran postal worker and trade union organiser. Karl’s story outlines the impact of the myriad changes that have happened to the postal service and to the working life of postal workers since the privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013. Karl highlights how new technologies – typically associated with the ‘gig economy’ – have permeated a formerly ‘low tech’, ‘traditional’ sector and have been used to intensify the labour process and discipline the workforce. Karl outlines the profound impact these changes have had on the postal workforce: eroding their autonomy, destroying their ‘leisure in work’ and affecting their physical and mental health. Karl’s story also demonstrates the persistence of the ‘public service ethos’ in the Royal Mail despite privatisation. Workers argued that the ‘modernisation’ of the postal service had in fact led to the neglect of the universal mail service and the attendant erosion of the historic community function and status of the postal worker. Journal Article Work, Employment and Society 39 5 1269 1279 SAGE Publications 0950-0170 1469-8722 CWU, financialisation, gig economy, intensification, postal service, privatisation, Royal Mail, strikes, technology, trade unions 1 10 2025 2025-10-01 10.1177/09500170251336938 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) The research was conducted as part of ESRC-funded project ‘WISERD Civil Society – Changing Perspectives on Civic Stratification and Civil Repair’ (ESRC project reference ES/S012435/1). 2025-11-10T12:14:39.5686585 2025-05-30T11:54:29.4462542 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Daniel Evans 0009-0004-3778-4547 1 Karl Jones 2 69595__34863__4ccd34717dee4f599dc33e262e4c298d.pdf 69595.VoR.pdf 2025-07-29T16:23:08.0640173 Output 149927 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
spellingShingle Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
Daniel Evans
title_short Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
title_full Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
title_fullStr Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
title_full_unstemmed Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
title_sort Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike
author_id_str_mv fee62e3738ecb9ba3c88f3a9c5a76866
author_id_fullname_str_mv fee62e3738ecb9ba3c88f3a9c5a76866_***_Daniel Evans
author Daniel Evans
author2 Daniel Evans
Karl Jones
format Journal article
container_title Work, Employment and Society
container_volume 39
container_issue 5
container_start_page 1269
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0950-0170
1469-8722
doi_str_mv 10.1177/09500170251336938
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This article presents the experiences of ‘Karl’, a veteran postal worker and trade union organiser. Karl’s story outlines the impact of the myriad changes that have happened to the postal service and to the working life of postal workers since the privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013. Karl highlights how new technologies – typically associated with the ‘gig economy’ – have permeated a formerly ‘low tech’, ‘traditional’ sector and have been used to intensify the labour process and discipline the workforce. Karl outlines the profound impact these changes have had on the postal workforce: eroding their autonomy, destroying their ‘leisure in work’ and affecting their physical and mental health. Karl’s story also demonstrates the persistence of the ‘public service ethos’ in the Royal Mail despite privatisation. Workers argued that the ‘modernisation’ of the postal service had in fact led to the neglect of the universal mail service and the attendant erosion of the historic community function and status of the postal worker.
published_date 2025-10-01T05:23:54Z
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score 11.089572

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